Seating arrangements in vehicles often provide individual seats for the driver and at least some passengers. In vans, trucks, motor homes and the like, passengers and drivers may access the individualized seat provided for them by sliding into the seat from a side thereof. Egress from the seat may be achieved in the same manner.
For comfort, relaxation and a feeling of security, it is known to provide armrests along the sides of the individualized seats. In some seat designs, the armrests are formed integrally with the seat bottom and/or seat back. However, ingress and egress around fixed armrests can be difficult. It is known to provide one or more of the armrests rotatably connected to the seat. In a known design, the armrest is connected by a pivotal axis secured to the seat back. The armrest is rotatable from a substantially horizontal orientation to a substantially vertical orientation, more or less in line with the seat back. Passengers and drivers alike can enter and exit the seat easily and conveniently by raising the armrest and thereby removing the obstacle from the path for substantial, lateral movement into and out of the seat.
An uncontrolled pivotally mounted armrest can fall from the raised position, suddenly and unexpectedly. Since the armrest is pivotally connected to the seat near one end of the armrest, the weight of the armrest causes rapid acceleration of the armrest towards the lowered position. After a period of use, the armrest may be sufficiently worn that only a slight bump or jar of the seat or armrest can cause the armrest to fall from the raised to the lowered position. This can be inconvenient for elderly people or people with physical infirmities that create difficulties in entering and leaving the seat. Unintended lowering of the armrest also can present difficulties for adults attempting to position children in the seat, or in a child seat secured to the vehicle seat.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide controlled movement of the armrest between raised and lowered positions. Desirably, the armrest will move in a steady, smooth pace throughout the entire range of movement between the raised and lowered positions.